To be eligible for a league's list, a
pitcher must have thrown 1/3 inning for each team game or have made 20
appearances (10 in short-season and rookie-level leagues). Hitters need
one plate appearance for each team game.

Most years, the best teams are led by the best players. In the previous two years in the low Class A South Atlantic League, for example, No. 1 prospects Desmond Jennings (Columbus in 2007) and Madison Bumgarner (Augusta in 2008) sparked their clubs to championships. This season, the storyline was different. League champion Lakewood's highest-rated prospect, outfielder Anthony Gose, checked in at No. 13. Righthander Jason Knapp, who ranked seventh, opened the season with the BlueClaws but finished the season in Lake County after getting included in the trade that sent Cliff Lee from the Indians to the Phillies.

In another change, pitchers rather than position players dominated the league. Thirty-one of the 40 prospects on our 2007-08 SAL Top 20s were hitters, but this year pitchers claimed the first three spots and seven of the top 11. And Asheville lefthander Christian Friedrich would have ranked prominently had he not missed qualifying by two-thirds of an inning. The Rockies' 2008 first-round pick went 3-3, 2.18 with 66 strikeouts in 45 innings for the Tourists.

"There's no question about it. The starting pitching was the cream of the crop," Bowling Green manager Matt Quataro said. "Pitching is where the majority of the talent was."